The Green Party leader made his first response to speculation he was planning to stand down as part of a rotation system within the party.

Mr Gormley's comments suggest the party's backbencher Ciaran Cuffe will not be taking over his portfolio in the Department of the Environment.

"I hope to continue in my role. I hope to continue in Cabinet. But that is a matter for the Taoiseach," he said.

"As I have said, it's speculation and the fact of the matter is that, regardless of which minister you speak to, they are not going to say 'oh I'm going to be in Cabinet next week'. That is a matter for Taoiseach," he told the Irish Independent last night.

Incinerator

The Green Party leader also stood firmly over his opposition to the controversial incinerator for Dublin and described the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) report which criticised government waste policy as "fundamentally flawed".

Yesterday the country's leading think tank stood over its findings that there would be enough rubbish generated in Dublin to make the Poolbeg incinerator viable.

But Mr Gormley said the international review he had commissioned stood up to international scrutiny, had no flaws or errors and was scientifically robust.

"The errors that occurred in the ESRI report shows it is fundamentally flawed. If I had made those errors in my international review I would have been lambasted and lampooned and it would have been headline news," he said. "But apparently these guys can make fundamental errors and get away with it."

He said the proposed incinerator was not just wrong for Dublin, it was wrong for the country and would define national waste policy for the next 25 years.